FAQ and Factsheets: Revictimization

When most people think of rape, they visualize an unknown lunatic violently dragging a defenseless person into a dark alley. This is a very inaccurate portrayal. Almost four out of five rapes are committed by attackers who knew or recognized their victims. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" General Information

Child abuse does not discriminate. It spans all racial, gender, socio-economic and demographic boundaries. While it may be more likely to be reported and thus reflected in greater numbers of cases involving lower income families, it is by no means a problem limited to members of one economic or racial group. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" General Information

Child sexual abuse includes a wide range of sexual behaviors that take place between a child and an older person. These sexual behaviors are intended to erotically arouse the older person, generally without consideration for the reactions or choices of the child and without consideration for the effects of the behavior upon the child. Behaviors that are sexually abusive often involve bodily contact, such as in the case of sexual kissing, touching, fondling of genitals, and oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse. However, behaviors may be sexually abusive even if they don't involve contact, such as in the case of genital exposure ("flashing"), verbal pressure for sex, and sexual exploitation for purposes of prostitution or pornography. [More...]
From: The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

In 1982, the Final Report of the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime included four key recommendations to improve victim services in the parole process. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" General Information

The news media can often inflict a "second victimization" upon crime victims or survivors by enhancing their feelings of violation, disorientation, and loss of control. It is important for journalists to understand the emotions felt by victims and survivors, who are often disoriented and confused following a crime. Victims should have the rights when dealing with media that include refusing interviews, limiting the scope of questions, demanding corrections, and the right to anonymity. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" General Information

Crisis is defined as "a dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life" and "a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined; a turning point." [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" General Information

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do or say if a friend has been a victim of crime. Understand that your friend is probably dealing with many different emotions and might not know how to talk about it either. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" Bulletins for Teens

Criminal victimization can cause both short-term and long-term stress reactions. When a person survives a crisis such as a violent crime, there may be residual trauma and stress reactions. Many people who experience long-term stress reactions continue to function. Those who are unable to function within a normal range, or have difficulties may be suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD can occur at any age.. The estimated prevalence of PTSD among adult Americans is 7.8%, with women (10.4%) twice as likely as men (5%) to have PTSD at some point in their lives. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" General Information

Many hundreds of thousands of women have been raped in wars in this century alone, as reported in areas as diverse as Korea, Bangladesh, Liberia, Southeast Asia, Uganda, and in the former Yugoslavia. Assaults are often gang-related and sadistic, including other forms of physical torture. The effects of these types of trauma are immeasurable, long lasting, and shattering to both inner and outer worlds. [More...]
From: The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

For sexual activity to be okay, it must be consensual-which means that both people want it to happen. Sexual assault is when any person forces you to participate in a sexual act when you don't want to. This can include touching or penetrating the vagina, mouth or anus of the victim (often called rape), touching the penis of the victim, or forcing the victim to touch the attacker's vagina, penis, or anus. Touching can mean with a hand, finger, mouth, penis, or just about anything else, including objects. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" Bulletins for Teens

Stalking is a pattern of behavior that makes you feel afraid, nervous, harassed, or in danger. It is when someone repeatedly contacts you, follows you, sends you things, talks to you when you don't want them to, or threatens you. The legal definition of stalking and possible punishment for it changes from state to state. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" Bulletins for Teens

he trauma of victimization is a direct reaction to the aftermath of crime. Crime victims suffer a tremendous amount of physical and psychological trauma. The primary injuries victims suffer can be grouped into three distinct categories: physical, financial and emotional. When victims do not receive the appropriate support and intervention in the aftermath of the crime, they suffer "secondary" injuries. [More...]
From: NCVC "Get Help" General Information